Chiyo's Bully
by Elred Bluegreen
Summary: REUPLOAD He's lean, he's mean, and he's... creepy as all get out. Follow Chiyo's last great challenge in elementary school!
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Not our finest moment... It's time to blow the cap on another oneshot... hell, I can't write this note like I normally can. I am so... fruiting popped off (edited for our mutual convenience) with someone in my life that I felt compelled to vent my frustrations into a story that I've been kicking around a while. Might be continued, if anyone cares for it, which isn't likely. After all, stress relief can be very detrimental to a story's general quality. (As such, reviews are, as always, welcome and encouraged. I'm always looking to improve and that's the reason I put these things here in the first place.

"Students," the principal of the almost idyllically plain grade school announced, just a week before the end of the term, and the class-full of energetic ten-year-olds pointed their attention skyward to the intercom from which the authoritative voice was coming. After a moment's pause, the man continued.

"I would like to make a special announcement involving one very special student here. Due to a perfect performance not just in this term, but in all preceding terms of grade school, it is with great pleasure that I inform a Miss Chiyo Mihama that she is to report to her first year of high school at the commencement of the next school term, at none other than the prestigious..."

The name of that prestigious high school was promptly drowned out by the cheers of Chiyo's classmates and, in an almost childish display, those of her teacher as well. As the substantial blob of well-wishers crowded around her desk, heaping praise at heights to rival the Tower of Babel (and being just as coherent as its builders must have been) she blushed and shied lower into her seat.

"It's nothing! Nothing, really... whoa!" Her attempts at becalming the mob were very much in vain, as she was lifted from her desk and carried around the room.

* * *

"I can't believe this!" Miruchi couldn't keep herself still as she, Chiyo, and Yuka awaited the first bus on their rather long walk home. In an unsuccessful effort to stop jittering, she jammed her hands into her jeans pockets. "I'm so happy for you, Chiyo!"

"It's not really _that_ big of a deal, is it?"

Yuka scoffed. "C'mon, Chiyo! Don't try to pull this whole modesty thing off on us!" She overlaid with a fake, condescending tone, "Show some damn pride! Who else jumps five grades like that?"

"You're not supposed to talk like that, Yuka-chan..."

"Whatever! It's not like anyone can hear us to begin with!"

"It's OK, you guys..." Chiyo attempted to divide the two before they got into an altercation. Fortunately, her current prestige was enough to halt the usually inevitable fistfight.

"Anyway, you should be proud of yourself, as much as I hate admitting that Yuka-chan's right," Miruchi continued. "You're so worried about sounding stuck-up. Just loosen up a bit! I mean, we're your friends, and we know you're not trying to put yourself over us."

"OK." Realizing that her friends were right, Chiyo nodded in agreement.

"We're rooting for you all the way!" Beginning her cheering again, Yuka pumped her fist in the air. "Valedictorian!"

"I'll do my best!"

Miruchi clapped Chiyo on the shoulder. "There. How about we go to the mall and grab some smoothies to celebrate? My treat!"

"Hey!"

The trio of girls turned at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, and Chiyo saw a boy approaching that she hadn't seen before. He was only slightly taller than Yuka, who was the tallest of the group, with an unkempt frizz of black hair on his head and glasses. She took a breath to respond, but immediately, she noticed her friends tense up somewhat.

"What do you want, Hayato?" Yuka spat.

"Yuka, don't pick a fight..." Miruchi warned, gently tugging at Yuka's arm.

"Yeah, don't pick a fight!" 'Hayato' spat right back, his tone dripping with animosity, "'cause you'd lose! 'Cause you're a girl!"

"Oh, whatever!" Baring her teeth like an animal, Yuka let out a snarl, but after Miruchi tugged on her arm again, she made an effort to calm down.

"What's the matter? What's wrong?" Chiyo inquired.

"It's nothing, Chiyo. Don't let him ruin your day. Yuka, let's go!"

"Hey, I'm not done with you yet!" Hayato protested, following the girls as they tried to make their escape. "SO I heard you were going up to high school?"

"Don't answer him..." Through clenched teeth, Yuka uttered the warning. However, Chiyo was occasionally too polite for her own good.

"That's right, Hayato." She replied, trying not to let the negative first impression factor into her voice. _Maybe it was just an argument earlier today that has Miruchi and Yuka so worked up,_ she thought.

"Don't you know what happens at those places?" That tone of his was evolving from annoying to insulting. "All the boys there are just gonna try and get in your pants!"

"Huh?" The reference went right over sweet little Chiyo's head, as well as that of Miruchi, but Yuka nearly boiled over.

"And that's worse than you, how?" She demanded, "You're at the bottom of every class I've seen you in! Chiyo actually WORKED and EARNED something, and you should at least let her carry a triumph from it!"

"Whatever, like some goody-little-two-shoes deserves any respect from me!"

Yuka got right up in his face, the anger visibly seething from her ears. "_Take. That. BACK."_ She barked, her eyes appearing as though they would ignite Hayato's hair into a blazing inferno. Hayato must have had a death wish, since he only responded with an almost comical (but likely intended to be serious) 'anger' face.

"Make me!"

"I want there to be something left for the morgue to look at!"

Miruchi tugged on Chiyo's hand. "I know Yuka." She muttered, "we can get out of here now. She'll catch up."

"Sure..."

* * *

"That was Hayato." Miruchi explained, taking the three smoothies from the counter and handing her one. "It's his first name, since his family name... well, no one really knows it somehow. Not even the teachers. Don't let him get to you. He's a class A jerk."

"I could tell... did I say something to him once that got him to..."

"No. He's just like that. If you were in any of his classes, you'd see that he doesn't have any friends whatsoever. Oh, sure, he tries, but he's just such a stuck-up, arrogant little maniac that he terrorizes anyone who comes near him."

"Are you sure that there's no reason for that?"

Miruchi sighed. "Chiyo-chan, I know how you think. You want to find a good quality in him that means you shouldn't hate him or blame him for it. Trust me, he just doesn't do well with people. Not being antisocial, really... more like hostile."

"I see..."

"Yo! Miruchi! Chiyo!" Yuka cried triumphantly as she entered the food court, grinning ear-to-ear despite sporting bruises on her cheek and chin, as well as a black eye, "that was AWESOME! You should've seen... oh, blueberry!" She swiped one of the smoothies Miruchi was holding. "Don't mind if I do!"

"Yuka! Are you OK? You didn't get into a fight with Hayato, did you?" Chiyo was terrified by Yuka's state.

"_No..._ I didn't fight him, I just kicked his sorry little butt to the curve!" Pumping her fist in the air, Yuka was basically making the largest scene possible in the very middle of the court. "MAN! And then he high-tailed it out of there like the cowardly scumbag he is! Yahoo!"

"See," Miruchi elbowed the goggle-eyed Chiyo, "I told you she'd catch up."

"But... Yuka, it didn't bother me THAT much! You don't need to protect my feelings like that!"

Yuka spun around and put her hands on her hips. "But I WANT to! That's what friends do! Always fight for a friend even when they think it's being excessively violent!"

"Th... thank you?"

"You're quite welcome!"

Miruchi looked down at the floor. "Um... Yuka? Your..."

Yuka saw where Miruchi was directing her attention, noticing that she had dropped her smoothie on the ground, and it was now splashed all over the floor.

"Wh... wha? No!" She screamed. Chiyo smiled nervously and raised a finger.

"I... I'll get you another one, Yuka..." she stammered, inching away.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Yuka fumed, whipping out her wallet. "This is YOUR day! I'll pay for it MYSELF!"

"Wow..." Miruchi gasped, "there's a first time for EVERYTHING, isn't there?"

"Except, my dear Miruchi, Hayato getting something RIGHT!"

At that moment, Chiyo recalled something from earlier she had meant to ask.

"Yuka? What did Hayato mean by 'in your pants?'"

The question seemed to plow through Yuka's head as she gave Chiyo a look of astonishment. "You don't KNOW?"

"No..."

"Yeah, I was going to get that from you, too." Miruchi added. "You really went postal on Hayato for saying that, so it has to be pretty bad..."

"I... w-well, it's..." Yuka blushed slightly. "G... go ask your dad or something!"

Miruchi and Chiyo glanced at each other and shrugged.

"OK." They said. Yuka sighed with relief.

* * *

Chiyo was walking with Mr. Tadakichi the next day when she encountered Hayato again, whose face gave the appearance of an oatmeal raising cookie after his altercation with Yuka the previous day.. She had to wonder if he'd been seeking her out or if he was just on his own business, but decided that she wasn't going to ask him and reversed her course. Unfortunately, he caught sight of her as she turned around to walk away, and began silently following her, which she wouldn't have noticed save for Mr. Tadakichi's occasional protective glances back at her. Looking around herself, however, and noticing the boy stalking her, she steadily began to speed up and turned the corner she had just come around the other way, so as not to lead him to her house.

She wasn't sure why she was so scared of him, but then again, that caution might serve its purpose. Just so long as she was in view of the public, she wouldn't be harmed, right?

Whether or not that was Hayato's intention, he resumed following her, until she was running at a full sprint down a street she'd never been to before. Finally, she whirled around and faced him.

"Why are you following me?" She demanded, her usual politeness completely forgone and forgotten due to fear, exhaustion, and confusion.

Hayato looked at her like she was insane. "What're you talking about? I'm not following you! That's false accusation! Jeez, quit being so paranoid!"

Chiyo's ears burned, and she turned around to walk away, when Hayato began laughing at her obnoxiously... and continued following her. Mr. Tadakichi let a small growl escape from his throat when he looked back at their pursuer.

"I know..." She murmured in response, "I don't have any idea what his problem is, either... C'mon, there's a few places that he won't follow us into."

In a few blocks, there was a fashion boutique that Chiyo had always gone to, ever since she was six years old, and had always made an exception to the 'no pets' rule because of Mr. Tadakichi's excellent manners. Since no boy in his right mind would go into a fashion shop for anything, Chiyo knew she was safe as soon as she entered, holding the door open for Mr. Tadakichi.

"Oh, good afternoon, Chiyo-chan, Mr. Tadakichi!" The clerk called brightly, checking her list. "No appointments today... just here to buy something for home use?"

"Actually... it's a long story. You see..."

It seemed as though Chiyo had assumed her safety from Hayato a little bit too soon, as he practically blew down the door as he burst into the boutique, pointing straight at her.

"You can't do that! It says no pets on the sign!" He screeched.

"Good afternoon, sir!" Oblivious to his antagonism, the clerk explained. "Mr. Tadakichi's a friend of ours..."

"I don't care! She can't come in here with pets!"

"Sir, I'll say this again..."

"No you won't!"

The clerk leaned over the desk. "Friend of yours?" She whispered.

"Not at all..."

"I see. Hang on. Sir, if you have such keen observational skills, you'll also notice another sign right here on the desk."

"'We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.'" He read.

"Exactly, sir. We invoke that right upon you now. Please remove yourself from the establishment."

"You're supposed to refuse..."

"Please remove yourself, or I'll be required to contact the necessary authorities required to remove you."

"Fine!" He glared directly at Chiyo, without making any motion toward the door. "Rat! Tattletale! Suck-up!"

Finally deciding he had seen enough, Mr. Tadakichi strolled lazily towards the boy, his canine eyes regarding him with distaste. Hayato took a step back.

"Hey, what's your dumb dog doing! Get away from me! You'll give me RABIES!"

Composing himself perfectly, Tadakichi walked around Hayato, picked him up by the back of the collar, and carried him towards the door, which the clerk opened so that the dog could deposit the boy out on the street. By the time Hayato recovered and attempted to reenter the store, Tadakichi was inside, the door was locked, and Chiyo had gone into the back room with the clerk. Hayato pounded on the door for a while, then stormed off the way he had come.

"That's why we make exceptions to the rules, sometimes." The clerk smiled gently. "Who is that kid? The first person I've ever seen that doesn't like you, sure, but why?"

Chiyo moaned. "He just started going after me yesterday... may I please use your phone? I think I want to get a ride from my dad today..."

"Certainly, sweetheart!" Taking the phone off the hook, the woman noticed that Chiyo was starting to cry. "Hey, hey, hey... don't let that little devil get to you like that! You're taking the high road, right? In a few more years, you'll get to go to that high-class high-school and you'll never have to see him again, so cheer up some!"

"I'm... actually going to that high school next year. I just figured that out yesterday..."

"Is that kid raining on your parade?"

"Y...yes."

"Of all the nerve..."

Author's note: That's all, folks! Reviews and suggestions encouraged by the establishment!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: So much for oneshot... ha...

Well, what have you. Let's just get into the story.

Chiyo's parents drove her to school the next day, as an added measure against the sudden animosity she had come under from Hayato.

"Thank you very much, Dad. I'm sorry to wake you and Mom up so early for this." She apologized as she stepped down from the seat, waving. "Don't forget to pick me up, too! Bye!"

"Oh, look who's here!" Yuka greeted, her arms crossed in mock annoyance, although her lips' slight upward curl was unmistakable. Most of her bruises from two days past had faded away, although parts were still swollen from the impacts. "Don't even need to walk with us anymore?"

"Hi! Sorry about that, but Hayato was following me the other day. I think he was trying to figure out where I lived or something... it kind of scares me. My parents will drive me from the mall until I get to my new school."

"That little snake! I can understand your problem." Nodding sympathetically, Yuka began walking with Chiyo to the school building. "Y'know, it's not like he's giving you any special treatment. He basically tries to meatgrind everyone he sees."

"But why? He was picking on the fashion store clerk for absolutely no reason the other night, too, but why does he think he has to do that?"

"Probably a superiority complex." Miruchi piped in, giving Yuka and Chiyo a start. "It's because you got to move up to high school, I bet. He wants you to leave knowing that he's in charge of you, no matter how smart you are."

_And he's doing a really good job of it..._ Chiyo thought, although she merely nodded in agreement.

"He acted so high and mighty!" Yuka balled up her fists and let loose a flurry of boxing jabs, "But then I happened! Thought he could beat me, didn't he? I wasn't going to kick his butt, so when he jumped at me, I gave him three strikes! ONE, TWO, THREE! Swing and a miss! Then, I really opened up! He never saw that one COMING!" With the last word, she blasted the wind with a shattering right-hand uppercut, then dramatically blew on it as though to extinguish a blaze. "And THAT'S how you show the guy who's boss, Chiyo! Face off and knock him down!"

"I appreciate the help, but I'm not that much of a fighter. Even if I did try, I would probably get hurt."

"What you need to do is be stronger than him mentally." Miruchi diverted, trying to escape from Yuka's violent solution, "there's no way you can win against him because he's just a jerk like that. He's got nothing to lose, anyway, so he'll just ramp up until he finds something that gets under your skin. From what I know of him, the real victory won't be in getting a point across to him. It'll be in not being afraid of him when you leave. Sure, he'll think he won and be all 'high and mighty' to borrow a term, but all he'll have done was reinforce your own confidence."

"Spoken like a true psychat... psyiatractic..." Yuka stomped her foot on the ground. "Dammit!"

"Yuka doctrine number two." Miruchi chuckled. "If in doubt, cuss it out."

"What was that word?"

"_Psychiatrist._"

"Oooooh... so THAT'S why Mom was laughing so hard..."

"Thanks for the advice, guys. I feel a lot better now, but I've got to get to my first class early." Chiyo took a few steps before Yuka stopped her.

"Hey, why so early?" She asked, "I mean, 's'not like there's any schoolwork or anything to get done! There's just another week or so left of school until the break!"

"I know. I brought some board games for my class to play together."

"That's cruel! You steamroll EVERYONE at board games, even Miruchi!"

"But I was just going to play chess with Mr. Oonishi. It's actually a really even match... I brought the games so that everyone else would have something to do, too. Oh, Miruchi?"

"Hm?"

"I forgot with all of the commotion last night. Did you ask your parents what 'in the pants' means?"

Miruchi recoiled from the question, her head flying forward like it'd been struck with a baseball bat. "Y... yes." She mumbled.

"So, what does it mean?"

"G... just go to your class..."

"But..."

"Just go to your next class!" The tone change caused Chiyo to jump back for fear of being mauled.

"Chiyo-chan, may I speak with you before you go to play games with your friends?" Mr. Oonishi asked, taking off his reading glasses and placing them next to the book, The Count of Monte Cristo, that he'd been reading.

"I was going to play chess with you already, teacher!" Chiyo pulled out her chair and strolled up to the pedestal. "What's wrong?"

"I know better than to believe this, as does the entire class, but a student 'informed' me that you were training a dogfighter and that I should be calling the police. Any guesses as to who this was?"

"Hayato?"

"School policy says that I can't divulge that. Therefore, I should not tell you," a smile played at his lips, "that it was Hayato that brought this to my attention. In fact, he came to me and, quite forcefully, requested that I take this up with the authorities. Rest assured, since we both know who we're talking about, I have no intention of following up on that request. Besides, Mr. Tadakichi'd make for a pretty poor dogfighter, wouldn't he?"

"Of course! He wouldn't hurt anything without a reason!"

"So, we're settled on that. Is there anything else that he's been giving you problems with?"

"Well..." Chiyo was about to tell her teacher about Hayato's stalking her the day before, but decided that since she'd already found a solution to that problem, she would keep it as low-profile as possible. "Not very much."

"Oh, glad to hear it! So, why don't we get around to that game of chess, eh? Oh, and by the way, my heartiest congratulations for your accelerated graduation, Chiyo-chan. I know you belong up there."

"Thank you, Mr. Oonishi!"

"You know, I've got a brother out in Osaka who's trying to get his daughter to that school. You'll want to keep an eye out for her—she's nice, but... a little hard to classify..."

"Hayato, please report to the main office." The intercom requested...

"Hayato to the main office. Thank you."

The hum of classroom gossip was like music to Yuka's ears, especially since it was at the expense of her be_hated_ Hayato. She leaned back in her chair to take in the sound, sighing blissfully.

"What do you think he did, Miruchi?" She asked, although she didn't particularly care as long as it got him in trouble. Miruchi, who sat next to Yuka, only shook her head.

"Who knows? Maybe he was being fresh with his teacher again." A dismissive shrug. "Even if he did something surprising, it wouldn't surprise me."

"Do you think he threatened to hang someone?"

"Nah... probably not, though like I said, I just wouldn't be surprised."

Yuka produced a deck of playing cards from her skirt pocket and set a 10-yen coin on the table. "Poker?"

"Forget about it. You marked the deck, didn't you?"

"Damn..." Yuka withdrew the cards. "You're no fun, you know that? At least Chiyo would be finding a game for us to play instead. You just blow off the whole thing altogether!"

"And every time she finds another game to play, you ruin it by making it a gambling game and subsequently clean the poor girl out of everything but the clothes on her back, because you know she's too polite to refuse it."

"Well, hey, the choice is still hers! Not my fault I want to make some money on the side!"

Miruchi smiled evilly. "One of these days, Yuka, you're going to put something ridiculous down on a bet to her because she always loses... and then, you're going to lose. And I'll be watching and laughing the whole time."

At this, Yuka's eyes widened. "How can you be so dang scary talking so normal?"

The malice in Miruchi's grin dissolved, and she shrugged. "I don't know."

"So, who is your niece, Mr. Oonishi?" Chiyo inquired, setting the pieces up on the board, "I don't think you've mentioned her before."

"Like I said, she can't really be put in a category. On paper, she's a below-average citizen in every regard... grades, unremarkable except in language arts, borderline failing in math and physical ed. Attendance, late almost every day. Then, you examine her character... as a _person,_ not a _citizen._"

"Just not the kind of intelligence that school records?"

"Pretty much. Like I said, she does well in writing. That's because of her abstract creativity... she can make an entire essay on the fantastical landscapes in a single grain of sand, or how we can't say that aliens don't exist because they could've just gotten a flat tire and ran late to meeting us. Maybe her facts... require annotation, but she can craft the most powerful pieces with absolutely no effort."

"I wonder if she'll still succeed in life, though. If she doesn't get good stock grades..."

"Don't worry about her, Chiyo-chan. If she comes up here, she'll probably be staying with me, so I'll tutor her and make sure she evens out."

"That's good to hear... are you going to set up your pieces, Mr. Oonishi?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry..." Oonishi laughed nervously. "The niece of mine... she's just such a character that I forget everything I'm doing if I talk about her."

"And... time."

The bell rang, dismissing the entire grade school to its next classes. Yuka drew the stopwatch she had kept running in her pocket through the whole class... one hour, on the dot. Barely able to contain herself, she waved it in front of Miruchi's face. "Look at that, Miruchi! Look! Look! I got it perfect this time!"

"Good?"

"YEAH! I am PERFECTLY timed! Not even a fraction of a second off!"

"That's nice. Good for you." Stretching and yawning, Miruchi took a second to remember exactly where she was. "Oh, right, we've got to get to our next class. I..." she yawned again, slipping the handbag strap over her shoulder, "I wonder what we're having for lunch today..."

"We've still got two more classes before then, including the only one where we're legally entitled to mutilate Hayato, GYM CLASS!"

"You're excited for that... but yesterday was the last day of suiting up."

The reaction was like a bomb went off. Yuka had frozen in her 'jumping for joy' pose, with an expression of complete horror on her face. In a ratcheting movement, she turned to face Miruchi.

"You're... you're kidding..." she said stiffly. "Please tell me... you're kidding... Miruchi..."

"You never even liked it until the dodgeball unit..." Miruchi muttered bleakly, "until Hayato got switched to our class..."

_Speaking of which..._

"Hayato isn't even out of the office yet?" Chiyo asked.

"That's right." The boy she was talking with, Narada, nodded. "And thank gosh, that kid's a little spitfire. Treating you like that after you worked so hard to earn that..."

"How'd you know about that?"

"Oh, Hayato took the liberty of _explaining_ to us, against our will, mind you, how he beat you, Yuka, and Miruchi in a fight, with his face looking like a blueberry cobbler, and we all put two and two together. Besides, everyone knows that you never fight with anyone, no matter what."

"Yeah, Yuka-chan was the one who fought... she got so fed up with Hayato making his comments like that. I wasn't even really there."

"Sounds like her... hey, Chiyo, there's something I've got to ask you..."

"Oh, Miruchi, Yuka!" Having caught sight of her two best friends, Chiyo turned around. "Thanks, Narada! Bye!"

"But..."

Chiyo had already scampered off, leaving Narada in her wake...

"Not again..." He groaned, slowly walking off down the hallway to his next class. "How do I always mess this up? Am I just incompetent? I guess..."

"So, what're we doing in Social Studies?" Miruchi asked, "is that class asleep for the rest of the term?"

"Pretty much." Yuka drew a candy bar from her skirt pocket. "Hayato has it, too, so we'll get to see his ugly mug again. How swell."

"I heard that he hasn't even gotten out of the office, yet." Chiyo said. "I hate to say this, but I wouldn't mind not seeing him again after last night."

"Quit trying to not hate him. You're bending yourself backwards, and it shows." Yuka remarked dryly, unwrapping the piece of candy and popping it into her mouth. "It's not a problem to hate that particular person."

"Anyway," Miruchi decided to change the subject, "Chiyo, do you know anyone who'll be going to the same high school as you?"

"Sadly, I don't. I wish I did, though... it might be scary making new friends over there, especially after being so used to you guys."

"Don't worry, Chiyo-chan!" Yuka put her arm around Chiyo's shoulder. "I could never see someone like you not being able to make friends. You'll be just fine!"

"That's nice of you to say, Yuka-chan." Chiyo said gratefully. "Oh! Miruchi, that just reminded me! I meant to ask my dad about the whole 'in your pants' thing, but he said he was too busy to explain it to me at the time. Did you find out about it?"

Miruchi blushed, suddenly becoming defensive and awkward. "Yeah, I, um, did ask him."

"Well, what does it mean?"

"Gah! It's... not something I can really say. I mean... yeah." Miruchi tried to deflect Chiyo's curiosity. "You know..."

". . . what?"

Hayato had apparently finished his office business by the time PE came around (or maybe it was just that it was required that he be released for the term's final physical measurements, and that he would return after these were complete.) Either way, it led to another confrontation as the children waited in the gym to be called up...

"Mihashi Yuka!" The nurse called out, as Chiyo sullenly rejoined Miruchi, in the corner of the gym, and Yuka went up for her physical.

"Well, how'd it go?" Miruchi asked, "was it that bad?"

"I haven't grown a centimeter!" Chiyo lamented. "130, again!"

"Wow, even for grade school, that's pretty short. Imagine being around all those tall high-schoolers in a few weeks."

"The only thing I'm really scared about is PE..."

"Hey, they're sure to give you points for trying your best. Then again, dodgeball's going to suck."

"Am I too young to write out a will?"

"Think so."

Crossing her arms, Miruchi looked across at the huge mass of different groups that had formed. "It's going to be so different with you gone, Chiyo. You're representing the absolute best-case scenario for someone your age... don't let us all down, all right? Remember that we're all behind you every step of the way."

"What about..."

"Hayato? Like he counts..." Then, she groaned. "And... speak of the devil."

On cue, Hayato rolled right up next to the two, not even saying a word. He was STILL showing the signs of his fight with Yuka two days ago, which told Chiyo that he'd gotten beaten even more painfully than she'd first thought. _Yuka must be really strong._ She imagined.

"Get out of here, Hayato." Miruchi sighed. "I'm not going to take any of this today. Leave us alone or I'll tell Coach."

"I can stand where I want to! Sheesh, I wasn't even talking to you!" Hayato retorted.

"But you were standing half a foot away, staring at us like you were wondering how big a knife you would need to cut our kidneys out, which seems like fight-picking enough."

"I'm not even doing anything, you little snitch!"

"Says the one who told the school that my dog tried to maul him..." Chiyo muttered.

"Because he did! Dangerous dogs like that get euthat... eutharate... um... put to sleep!"

_That would be menacing if he had known how to say it... _Miruchi thought ruefully, but she saw a completely different effect on Chiyo's face, which was one of complete terror. "C'mon, you don't HONESTLY think anyone listens to this kid, do you?"

"Everyone does!" Hayato emphasized.

". . . and Abraham Lincoln just turned in his grave."

"Who's Abraham Lincoln?"

"That's it, I've had enough. C'mon, Chiyo, watch this." Miruchi led Chiyo across the gym, with Hayato in close pursuit, spouting nagging insults and calling the two every possible name under the sun. By the time they got through the 'mob' of students waiting near the doors, he had vanished.

"And, presto, he's gone."

Surprised, Chiyo looked around the gymnasium for any sign of the boy. "Where'd he go?"

"He either got caught up insulting someone else, or got into a fight with some other boys. Either way, he's off our backs, and our hands are clean. It works out, right?"

"That's pretty clever..."

It was fairly close to the end of the day, in the midst of the final class, and Chiyo was getting her school supplies packed into her bag when the PA lit up once more.

"Mihama, Chiyo, please report to the main office. Mihama, Chiyo."

Author's Notes: The Sequel.

Greetings, faithful readers! Not much to report here, other than READ AND REVIEW YOU MUTE FACELESS RABBLE!

. . . Oh, sorry. Had a weird day today. Still, it would be nice if all of you were like James Birdsong. Seriously, he always reviews when he reads, so can't you take an example from him? And James... thank you for being such a dear friend.

(By the way, just as a side-note, I wrote the first chapter under the filename "azuoneshot" because that's what it was, a one-shot. However, to avoid confusion, I wrote the second chapter with the FN "azuoneshot02." Oxymoron?)


	3. Chapter 3

The final bell had rung five minutes ago when there was a knock on the office door, which opened slightly.

"Did you need to talk to me, Mr. Yano?" Chiyo asked timidly, not having any idea what her being called into the office could possibly be about. She hadn't done anything wrong at all recently... but when she entered the office, the principal was standing with a man she didn't recognize.

"Ah, there you are, Miss Mihama. Sorry to keep you." Yano, despite his appreciable girth, crossed the room rapidly in his excitement. "Two things, but one is so negligible in comparison to the other, that... well, we'll get to it all. First, I would like you to meet your new principal, Mr. Sammiya Taizo." He gestured to the other man, who nodded his head at the recognition.

"It's an honor, Mr. Taizo!" Chiyo bowed respectfully.

"All mine, Miss." The high-school principal was an aging man, whose hair was balding but not greying in the slightest. "It's not often that we accept people your age into our school... you must be proud."

"I'll be sure not to disappoint you!"

Taizo put his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Relax, Miss Mihama. No one's grading you yet."

"Oh... sorry, Mr. Taizo."

"Now, I just wanted to meet you and provide you with the medical forms that your parents will be required to fill out. Nothing much," taking a few sheets of paper off the desk, "we just need to know of any allergies, prescriptions, inhalers... like I said, it's for your parents to take care of. We want to ensure that we're meeting your medical needs, as well as your educational ones."

"Certainly. My parents will actually be picking me up from school today, so I'll be sure to show these to them."

"See how prompt she is with these things?" Yano laughed, elbowing Taizo good-naturedly, "and I guarantee you, if there's a disciplinary issue with her herself, I'll pay you every last yen I own."

"Pretty hefty claim... guess I'll take your word for it." With this, Taizo returned to Chiyo. "So, get these filled out and make sure you're ready... there's a lot more work in high school than grade school, and even you could falter if you're not vigilant. All right?"

"I'll do my best!"

"Looking forward to having you, Miss Mihama. Best of luck, and I'll leave you two to your business." Taizo took his hat from the desk and departed from the room.

Yano chuckled. "He's a good man, Mihama. Tough, but certainly fair. You'll get everything that's due you from him. So, with that, the second reason I called you in.

"Are you at all acquainted with the lovely Hayato?" He asked, the smile not even fading from his face.

"Somewhat. I only really met him a few days ago, but he's... left quite an impression."

"Yes... he's quite a charming young specimen, isn't he? With a lot of guts, as well... he marches straight into my office and promptly entertains me with a tale of how you and your 'vicious attack dog' nearly _killed _him last night. He lost me somewhere around the beginning, however, so I didn't take quite as much enjoyment out of it as he most certainly intended.

"In any case, I would trust you to provide me with a slightly less... biased recollection of the story that may set the record straight."

Chiyo retold the story, making sure not to leave any detail out, and doing her best not to cause it to sound like a complaint parade about Hayato's less-than-gentlemanly conduct, but by its end, Yano merely shook his head.

"Isn't that something? You were right to retreat into an institution you trusted, and I don't see any possible wrongdoing on your dog's part. Just _yet another _of Hayato's yarn-spinning shenanigans." He nodded. "Just remember to call the police if he keeps harassing you like that, all right? I would very much enjoy not having the law intervene in this if possible, but I'm not going to accept it if he keeps pestering you."

"Of course! Thank you very much, sir."

He added, "At least you won't have to deal with him for more than another week. We'll see you tomorrow, Miss Mihama."

"Goodbye, Mr. Yano!"

She exited the office and began walking down the hallway. From here, she had to go down one staircase and through a long hallway, turn one corner, and down another, even longer hallway, which led to the parking lot. As she stepped down the stairs, her hand sliding along the railing, she realized that she had never seen the building as empty as this before... and had also never begun feeling spooked by a school.

* * *

"Oh, there she is!" Miruchi elbowed Yuka awake and waved. "Chiyo!" The two had been waiting at the base of the stairs for Chiyo to finish up in the office, and she felt grateful that she wouldn't be walking alone after all, but...

"Why're you two waiting for me here? Aren't your parents worried?" She asked.

Miruchi shook her head. "Nope. Yuka and I went down to talk with your parents. They said they'd call ours and tell 'em we were going to be late."

Yuka, who was half-asleep at the moment, made a groaning sound that didn't sound like it came from a human throat, which startled both Chiyo and Miruchi. "I'm hungry..." She grunted, "why didn't you tell me this would take so dang long?"

"Yuka... you never change. C'mon, let's go grab a bite at the mall, Chiyo."

"OK!"

* * *

"So, why were you called into the office anyway?" Miruchi's question came after a minute or so of walking in silence, so it surprised Chiyo somewhat.

"Oh, that. I got to meet the principal for the high school, Mr. Taizo. He said he was really looking forward to having me in high school, and he gave me a few medical forms for my parents to fill out."

"Huh, that's all?" Yuka had apparently woken up enough to think clearly. "Took him long enough, didn't it? Did he hand-write them all out for you on the spot?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were in the office for a whole hour." Miruchi pointed out. "For all of that time, we worried that it had something to do with Hayato."

"To be completely honest, it did, but it wasn't really a big deal. Mr. Yano just heard about everything that happened from Hayato and wanted to get my side of the story. No one's in trouble."

Yuka slapped her own face. "Oh, come ON!" She yelled.

"Y... Yuka?" Chiyo was fully surprised by Yuka's exclamation.

"What on Earth?" Yuka demanded of no one in particular, as she drove through the front door of the school like a battering ram, "WHAT does Hayato have to do to get punished? Is he ABOVE THE FREAKING LAW?"

Miruchi made an effort to placate Yuka. "I bet that Mr. Yano's just tired of dealing with the kid. We ALL know that he's not the sterling star of the school..."

"Shouldn't he be expelled, in that case?"

"Yes. Yes, he should be. But, for some inexplicable reason, he's still around. We've all still got to deal with him."

"Guys..." Chiyo still couldn't feel the same type of frustration that her friends did... while she was in control of her senses, she didn't want to hate Hayato, but she knew in her heart that this noble notion wouldn't last once she next saw him...

"Oh, and speak of the devil..." Yuka whispered, pointing behind them. Miruchi groaned, and noted with some humor that this seemed to be happening a LOT recently... but Yuka seemed to have a plan. She reached into her pocket and drew an old pencil, one that looked like it had been chewed up by a ravenous animal, (In truth, Yuka had merely gotten hungry during class) and a folded-up piece of blank paper.

"Watch this." She murmured, writing something on the slip and passing it to Chiyo. "Does this look correct to you?"

The header was in Japanese, implying that it was a letter to Chiyo, but the main body of the message was written in English, reading 'Hayato needed to ask his mommy to read this for him', and finishing with Yuka's signature in Japanese again. Chiyo nodded.

"You know English?" She asked Yuka, who shrugged modestly.

"I worked on it with Mr. Oonishi today when I had his class." She replied. "This'll keep him occupied." Setting it in another pocket, she stretched lazily. Chiyo was about to ask what the letter was for, but her question was answered when she caught the small white form fall out of Yuka's skirt from the corner of her eye.

"Don't look back at him," Yuka muttered, "or he might catch on."

* * *

Narada was at the mall on his own time when he noticed Mihama and her friends appear. Once he saw them, however, he very nearly forgot about the noodles he had been eating in his rush, although he did swing back and swipe them up after recalling them.

"I'm not going to get many more chances..." he murmured, scooping the rest of the noodles into his mouth. As he watched, Chiyo's friends separated from her, most likely to get a table, while she got in line for a fast-food restaurant. Narada saw his chance and took it.

"Hey, Mihama!" He called, joining her at the end of the line.

"Oh, good afternoon, Narada. How are you?" The pleasant, polite smile she gave him caused his resolve to almost entirely melt away... he blushed and looked away.

"Ah... nothing. I mean, I'm OK, up-and-down, here and there, more or less."

_** FUMBLE.**_

Chiyo's smile changed to a look of concern.

"Are you feeling OK, Narada? You look a little flustered... Is something wrong?"

"Gah! No, nothing's wrong, everything's right with the world, nope, just fine, wanted to say hi, see you!" Narada made quick his escape, leaving a very confused Chiyo in his wake. Scratching her head, the redheaded girl decided to shrug it off and returned to waiting in line, while Narada sought out his own lonely little table and stewed in the juices of his self-beratement.

"This is her last week, Narada..." he murmured to himself, "If you don't get this confession out of the way, you'll never see her again! At least, not as an equal! This is your last chance to appeal to her as a classmate... or even, at all! C'mon... get it together..."

"Hey, Narada."

The boy jumped at the interruption to his developing depression, but relaxed when he realized that it was merely one of Chiyo's friends, Miruchi, who had spoken.

"You look awful." She added.

"I feel awful." Sighing, Narada looked off. Miruchi followed his gaze to the food line, where Chiyo was standing, and recalled how she'd seen the two talking together earlier that day.

"What're you so afraid of?" She asked, putting two and two together, "Chiyo doesn't bite."

"It's just too awkward... Mihama's the top-tier student, multitalented, and... well, pretty. I shouldn't feel this way about her... I don't stack up even a quarter of the way to her."

Miruchi crossed her arms. "Yeah... keep telling yourself that... but ask yourself this, while you're at it. WHO stacks up to her now?"

"N... no one?"

"Exactly." Her point made, Miruchi turned around and left Narada alone.


	4. Chapter 4

Thursday was relatively calm, compared to the previous three days, but a quiet day wasn't always a good one. For Miruchi, it began like any other school morning...

"I'm off! Don't forget the dishes!" She yelled, "See you!" The door slammed behind her on its own—she could swear it was spring-loaded—and she began the short walk down her drive, as well as the long one to school. It was a full two hours on foot, since her parents couldn't be bothered to do ANYTHING this early in the morning, and so she had to start at 5:30, even though school began at 8:00.

There wasn't much on her mind, although there certainly had been a lot of weird things happening that week. She just walked on, oblivious, until she came across the intersection.

_This is where Chiyo normally met me,_ she thought absently, _And then Hayato started making himself such a menace._

With her obligatory thought out of the way, she resumed walking, her mind once again blank...

"Happy Happy Thursday, Miruchi! BOOYAH!"

_**SLAM!**_ Before Miruchi could react, Yuka had collided with her from seemingly nowhere, and both of them fell to the ground, sprawling in a heap. Laughing hysterically, Yuka bounced back onto her feet giddily.

"What was that?" Miruchi demanded, "Did your dad give you coffee this morning or something?"

"Why no, my good ma-dame! It's just time to forget about all that sad stuff in your life!" For some reason, Miruchi couldn't believe that Yuka wasn't influenced by either caffeine or sugar... Mihashi Yuka was terrifyingly hyperactive when she got her hands on anything of the sort. "I'll tell you now, it's Happy Thursday!"

"I appreciate the thought, but... are you OK?"

The energetic smile on Yuka's face abruptly dissolved, and her entire body seemed to droop. "Not really. You were supposed to play along," she mumbled dejectedly. "Now I'm all depressed. Thanks a lot."

"Yuka... I didn't mean to shoot you down. I'm sorry." As disturbing as it was to watch her bounce off the walls, Miruchi noted that it was much more so to watch her turn from ecstatic happiness to sadness. "What happened?"

"I hate my mom." Yuka kicked the dirt in frustration. "She doesn't want me hanging out with dad anymore, so she stopped letting me go with him to work last night."

"She's worried about you... I mean, your dad works at a bar. I can understand why she'd be afraid of..."

"Oh, for the love of..." Apparently, Yuka had heard this before. "This isn't the first time that..." sidestepping a curse, "woman, tried to push me away from dad. She works some fancy office job and holds her own bank account. Always purchasing these fancy presents for me because she knows dad can't afford it... damn it, she's treating me like a dog she can just buy off with treats!"

_She hates someone that buys her presents? That hardly sounds like her._

"I... don't know what to say, Yuka. If I'd known you were so hurt, I'd have gone along with this whole 'Happy Thursday' thing."

"Yeah, but you killed the mood."

There was a few minutes of silence as the two walked on, before Miruchi made one last effort. "Hey, want a spearmint?" She asked.

"Oh, do I ever!" Yuka swiped the stick of gum right out of Miruchi's hand, but staring at it forlornly as soon as she brought it closer. "Hey... I had one of these in my pocket, I'm certain."

"Why," Miruchi gasped with mock surprise, "whatever could you be insinuating?"

"Um..." Yuka stared at the gum, before looking back up at Miruchi. "I've got my eye on you." She muttered anxiously.

* * *

Only an hour or so later, Homeroom. The entire classroom waited for the first bell to ring...

"Oh, Miruchi! Good morning to you!" Miruchi turned in the direction of the all-too-familiar voice, noticing Chiyo walking towards her with that all-too-familiar welcoming smile on her face. What wasn't all-too-familiar, however, was the uniform she was wearing-a clean, tidy, brand-new high-school outfit, periwinkle with a royal blue skirt. Immediately, Miruchi was interested.

"Morning, Chiyo." She greeted, "So, they special ordered a uniform for you? It's really cute."

"You really think so?"

On an urge, Miruchi stepped forward and pinched the fabric of the skirt, which was so silky smooth that it slid right out of her fingers, and nodded. "You probably look better than most people who wear it, too."

"That's not true..." Despite her self-conscious smile and deflective speech, it was easy for Miruchi to tell that Chiyo was beaming. "I need to use the restroom real quick, I'll be right back."

"Oh, I'll go with you." Chiyo offered.

Perfect timing, since just as the two girls neared the door, someone coming in from the hallway opened it.

"Eh, morning, Chiyo, Miruchi," Narada stammered as he peeked in the doorway. "I was thinking... about something, and... ehh... thought..." As he noticed Chiyo's uniform, he steadily slowed down until he practically froze. Then, without another word, he slid out and closed the door. Chiyo was so confused, so busy wondering exactly why Narada had made his escape so hasty, that she didn't notice her friend slapping her own face with her palm.

"Um... what was that about...? Miruchi?" Chiyo asked.

"Nothing." Miruchi said quickly.

* * *

"And what does the rich high school kid have for lunch today?" Yuka peered over at her friend's lunchbox casually, unsurprised at its lavish contents. "Leftover Spanish paella? Again? You've been having that a lot this month."

Chiyo couldn't help but smile. When she'd first brought it to school, Yuka hadn't even been able to pronounce its name, and had drilled her for 'showing off' her family's profound wealth. Now, though, she was clearly bored of it. "I'm sorry. My parents are having a lot of formal functions, and we're pressed for time, so they pack it in for me."

Between bites of her deli sandwich, Miruchi pointed something out that had been bugging her for the longest time. "You know," she began, "you're the only person I've ever seen that can switch so ordinarily between outrageous fancy foods and normal, dime-a-dozen instant meals. You're hardly spoiled."

"Mom's always been really good with that. She wasn't always rich, so she makes sure I can appreciate everything I've been given." A smile. "She'll tell me funny stories about my dad sometimes..."

Yuka looked away, prompting Miruchi to change the subject. "Oh, hey, um..." she stuttered, "Chiyo, do you know anyone that's going to that school?"

"Hm? No, I don't." Chiyo produced a plastic fork from her lunchbox. "Mr. Oonishi said his niece might be going there, but I haven't met her."

"Fair enough... shoot," Miruchi placed her sandwich back on her tray. "Sorry, but I've got to go."

"Miruchi?" Yuka whined, "You just started a conversation!"

"I just remembered that there was something I had to do." This having been said, Miruchi excused herself, standing from her seat and collecting her tray. As she turned around, she caught Yuka putting her arm around Chiyo's shoulder.

"So," she asked, "how about you get your people to make me one of those uniforms, eh?" Sadly, Miruchi didn't stay long enough to hear the conversation unfold. She was much more interested in talking to Narada about his fumble in Homeroom, which she thought must have embarrassed him more than even a rejection would...

"Ah, there he is." She said to herself, picking his lonely figure out at the very corner of the lunchroom, as he disappointedly dunked his sandwich into a cup of mayonnaise (which was a curious way to eat, she marveled, unable to decide whether it was creative or disgusting) and nibbled at it. Concerned, she quickened her pace.

"Hey, Narada! Mind if I sit with you?" She asked, as soon as she neared the table. With a heavy glance, he nodded sullenly, and Miruchi took her seat.

"Seriously, Chiyo wasn't bothered by you. The only thing that made her uncomfortable was when you vanished."

"Gah, I'm sorry, Miruchi. It's just... seeing her in the uniform... it kind of... I don't know, I just couldn't do it." If it was possible, Narada's head sunk lower. "I'm a miserable failure."

"I understand that it's hard... but there has to be something you can do. Anything at all, before school ends..." After a second of hard thought, Miruchi reached a conclusion that was so painfully obvious, she was stunned she hadn't thought of it sooner. "How about, you write a note to her and leave it in her desk, before you even see her?"

"What's... how's that going to help?"

"That way, you don't have to think, 'oh, she's a high schooler now,' or 'wow, she looks cute today' before going through with it! It's practically foolproof!"

"But, Chiyo's riding to school now by car... how'm I supposed to get here before she does?"

"Simple. You wake up at... say, 3:00, and get here by 5. That's before I'm even awake, so..."

"Th... three o'clock? In the morning, but that's..." Narada nearly fell out of his seat.

"Tough, I know... I would just keep her from entering the room before you, but I'm going to be an hour late tomorrow, so there isn't anything I can do."

"Isn't that convenient... I'll do it, but... what if she..."

Miruchi shook her head. "Narada, I told you yesterday, you stand as good a chance as anyone, but... here's something that might help you. Chiyo's an unbelievable person, but she's not perfect. She's smart and talented, but not a robot. She doesn't spin some wheel of fortune in her head to make a decision... in the end, it's not up to chance whether she accepts or rejects you."

* * *

While Miruchi went about her motivational speech, however, the quiet Thursday was set to prove itself as the quiet before the storm. For there was one important thing that hadn't been noticed by anyone that day.

It had begun with a quiet pursuit in the morning hours, listening to Yuka's rant about her home life...

Followed by the observant spectation of Narada's fumble in homeroom...

Finally culminating in eavesdropping on Miruchi's inspired consolation.

There was only one thing that had been missing from Thursday, to make it so quiet... but quiet would be the only thing missing from Friday.


End file.
